The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-11-11
AiKITCHEN ROMANCE.
The Faithful Lover and Els Faith.
less Sweetheart.


Mrs. Loring wanted cook. and was
talking with n young Swedish woman
with view to engaging her. The
necessary questions and answers had
been exchanged. and everything
seemed satisfactory; but the girl still
stood as if hesitating. lingering the
fringe of her shawl. She was round
faced and rosey-cheeked, with some
what dull look. which. however,
changed TO a brighter one in pleasant,
unexpected way when she smiled. As
she stood with her head bent little
down, and her eyes turned little up,
she would not have been a bad model
ior a painter of rustic studies.
'.Dus you gels hev dey frants come
in de evenings?" she said. Il didunty
want mush cumpny like so lots er
gels, but hev vwon fran whut come
Often" And her red cheeks grew red
der. ut is difficult to catch and tran
scribe the peculiarities of the Swedish
accent-partly that no two Swedes of
the uneducated class. so far as l have
been able to notice, have Just the same,
and partly that, after spelling has done
what it can, there remains an indie
scribablc something, a sort of perya-
sive .'tongue-tiedness," through it all,
that battles the attempt to initiate it.
Most of us. however, have met Swedes
often enough to supply by our menu
cries what is deficient.
Mrs. Loring "graspcd the situation"
sOh, yes, Tilda,'' she said, "that will
be all right; you are welcome to see
any of your friends, if the kitchen is
not noisy and you keep early hours.
You must tell them that Mrs. Loring is
very cross if the kitchen is not locked
bv ten o'clock" This last with a
smile that at once gave the lie to her
words, and insured obedience to them.
So Tilda came, and three times a
week her lover came to see her. Regu-
larly at $50 on his accustomed even
ings his step would sound on the walk
that led to the area, and as regularly
it would be heard, few minutes be-
fore ten, departing. Her only other
guests were her sisters, who came but
seldom, and then, by an amusing
chance, always upon the alternate
evening; but no loud noises or bolster
Gus laughing ever disturbed the house;
indeed, beyond subdued murmur of
voices, which might be heard in the
pantry adjoining the kitchen, there
was no noise at all.
One evening, when Tilda had been
domesticated about month. Mrs. Lor-
ing went into the kitchen to prepare
something for one of the children, who
was ailing. Tilda's '.ffan," Nicholas
Jansen by name, was there, and Mrs.
Loring, who always felt kindly in-
terest in the affairs of her servants, no
ticcd hime somewhat closely. To her
quiet 'Good-evening" he responded
respectfully, but without any of the
'.sheepishness" which Mrs. Loring had
observed, on occasions like the present.
in the men who had kept company
with her other servants. He was a
large, well-built fellow, with strong,
honest face, and as Mrs. Loring went
upstairs she felt little of the pleasure
that all true women feel in the thought
that another woman, however humble,
is to be cared for by a man who will
do it worthily-a pleasure not entirely
nj. cd hx-f t,n Il, I
query which would obtrude as to
whether she would be getting married
Just as she became well wonted to the
work.
Il hope it will prove a .long court
ship" she said, half aloud, as she
reached the nursery, where other
things soon drove the subject from her
thoughts.
Two or three months passed. Nicho-
las continued his visits, but Mrs. Lor-
ing, with the exception of two glimpses
as hurried as the first, did not see him
again. One morning in the early
spring. when Tilda had been nearly
four months with her, Mrs. Loring
noticed that she looked sullen and dull,
and that her eyes were swollen as if
from crying; but she avoided remark
ing upon it, thinking that the kinder
way, and hoping that the mood would
soon give away to a happier one. But
days passed, and the change did not
come. Tilda was civil, and did her
work fairly well, but she "glummed
around without smile. and the traces
of tears were often visible. So week
went by. when it suddenly oc-
cured to Mrs. Loring that she
had not heard Nicholas coming and
going for some days-and two and
two instantly became four. "A lovers
quarrel" she thought; I'm see if 1
can help matters" So that evening.
when the work was finished, she went
TO the kitchen. Tilda was sewing, but
her eyes were red and wet. Mrs. Lor-
ing always respected her servants.
and her munitions were as true. if diff
fercnt. in approaching them on a sub
ject sacred to themselves as they would
have been in similar interview with q
social equal. so that in q few moments
Tilda's heart was won. and she was
pouring it out unreservedly.
..He hev gone back to Swaden. she